Feels like a good time to take a few days off of social media. Maybe a few years, we’ll see.

You get staffed on a show. It’s a dream come true. The 1st week is so fun. And then deadlines and notes hit, and people get nasty. Every day is full of stress and difficult situations to navigate. It’s happened to me a few times. SO HOW DO YOU SURVIVE A TOXIC ROOM? 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting

You get staffed on a show. It’s a dream come true. The 1st week is so fun. And then deadlines and notes hit, and people get nasty. Every day is full of stress and difficult situations to navigate. It’s happened to me a few times. SO HOW DO YOU SURVIVE A TOXIC ROOM? 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting

Go Dodgers! but it’s fun to look at this photo as if Yamamoto’s smile is a scream and he is being eaten by his teammates

LA is just more fun when the Dodgers win. Love seeing my neighbors from all over the city all rally around this team.

Let’s talk SAVE THE CAT! (Supposedly) The Last Book On #Screenwriting You’ll Ever Need Let me get this out of the way: I think Save the Cat! is a very good book for beginners and experienced writers alike. But I also have some serious qualms with it! I’ll explain both in this… #Scriptsky 🧵1

100% this. I might push back a little bit with my bosses on my show (when appropriate), but when it comes to other folks reading stuff I write on spec, nothing more than clarifying questions.

An aspiring writer I’m friendly with asked me to read his spec pilot. I gave him my thoughts today, and left impressed by him. In my opinion, the script needs a ton of work! But rather than get upset or defensive, he was nothing but appreciative. That’s what impressed me! #Scriptsky #Screenwriting

The article is wild! Definitely worth a read. But even after reading it, I still can’t comprehend why a man would desire a partner devoid of their own thoughts, passions, and curiosities. Is it just rampant insecurity?

The real treasure was the fruit trays we ate along the way.

“I like pineapple!” I like it when a baseball lasts so long the commentators start discussing their favorite fruits.

My grandfather stormed the beaches of Normandy. Hero! My father survived two years in a Vietcong POW camp. Hero! I figured out how to get my dishwasher to drain when it was clogged. Even bigger hero!

Let’s talk PUNCH-UPS. Punching up a script is the process by which a script that’s working well gets funnier, tighter, and any remaining wrinkles get smoothed out. I’ve been in hundreds of punch-ups and learned a few lessons along the way… 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting #Writingcommunity

Timeline cleanse. Here’s my sweet pup napping. With so much darkness out there, we all gotta try to enjoy the sunny spots when we find them.

Easily the biggest protest I’ve seen in 20 years of going to South Bay protests. Torrance and the beach cities turned out for #NoKings today.

When I worked on #TheOffice, Greg Daniels had a list of questions he asked of every story. Some were show-specific (eg “Are we saying something truthful if exaggerated about office life?”), but many are applicable to any script. Here’s a 🧵 on them… 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting #WritingCommunity

I don’t claim to be some huge Dodgers fan, but LA is just more fun when the Dodgers are winning! And what Ohtani did tonight was probably the greatest individual performance I’ve ever seen from a baseball player in one game.

I got a pretty nice little Saturday planned. I’m gonna coach an AYSO soccer game, attend a #NoKings protest, ref two other AYSO games, and then make my family pizza from scratch. This apparently makes me a “radical left-wing terrorist who hates America.”

My 10 year old just made a bad 6-7 pun (yes, I know the meme). I didn’t laugh. My 8 year old told me, “We get the joke because we’re Generation Alpha and you don’t ’cuz you’re Generation Old.” I did laugh at that.

One thing I love about vote by mail / ballot box drop off in CA, is that they email you once your vote is counted so there’s no stress it didn’t go through. #YesOn50

The world is a dumpster fire, so fuck it, I’m gonna bake bread. Note: this is not a metaphor; I’m literally baking a loaf of rosemary bread. And my kitchen smells amazing!

My favorite noise in the world is the near silence that’s periodically punctuated by the sound of a page turning as I listen to my daughters read.

There’s a new development-mandate. #Scriptsky #Screenwriting

Faced the Trader Joe’s equivalent of Sophie’s Choice just now: Went to check out and both of the cashiers I’ve become friendly with had open lanes and happily motioned for me to come to them, but I could only choose one. So… I panicked, knocked over my whole cart of groceries, and ran away!

Done a few generals (not enough, dammit), but every time I've walked in I've scanned the room for things to spark immediate friendly convo. Movie posters, memorabilia, sports tokens. College. Most people love to talk about the stuff they find cool. Prompt them to do so and you'll seem cool, too.

BE NICE TO THE ASSISTANTS. They are often the gatekeepers for return access. They know what the boss likes. They'll offer hints on how he operates. They often go on to climb the ladder and 3 years later might be the person you need to meet. Learn their name. Take their card if. BE RESPECTFUL.

Here’s how my 1st ever GENERAL meeting went… Exec: I read Joint Custody; I’m a big fan! Me: Thank you. Exec: How long have you been in LA? Me: 3 years. Exec: You work on The Office - what’s that like? Me: Fun. Exec: My assistant will be in to validate your parking. 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting

It’s rough out there, but I hope all the good folks on here are able to find their metaphorical sunny spots, even if they’re narrow or disappear quickly or just enjoying a cat enjoying an actual sunny spot.

CA folks, I voted YES ON PROP 50. Gerrymandering is objectively anti-democratic, but if Red and Purple states are going to do it (and they are), then the only way to ultimately put a stop to it is for Blue states to respond in-kind. Having the moral high ground won’t save Democracy.

I don’t care about the NFL, but I just saw Jacksonville score a pick-six and started thinking about how happy Jason from The Good Place would be. And that made me happy.

A big ol’ orb weaver caught a monarch butterfly in its web, in our yard. #Nature is hardcore.

Please, Democrats, I’m begging you to run Wizard Frog in 2028!

Oregonians were already furious about the number of Californians in their state.

I like it when people make cool art.

My daughters had a friend sleep over last night and she brought a Kamishabai (Japanese story box). The kids spent hours drawing, writing, and performing stories. It was a good reminder of why most of us make art & tell stories: we like making art & telling stories. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamishi...

Great 🧵 about nailing the hook early. I used to write grants and a VP at Bank of America told me that if he doesn't know what you want within the first 2 sentences he tosses the grant app. Sell me on the first page or GTFO. It's a huge pile, stand out!!! #booksky #scriptsky #screenwriting

In Adaptation, a fictionalized Robert McKee says, “The last act makes a film. Wow them in the end, and you got a hit. You can have flaws, problems, but wow them in the end, and you've got a hit.” Bull. Shit. Nobody’s making it to Act 3 if your Act 1 sucks. 🧵1 #Scriptsky #Screenwriting #Filmsky

The world’s greatest fourth-tier jamband is making their West Side debut! Lick the toad and enjoy the ride.

This is amazing: @ladwp.com, the Los Angeles utility, has launched a program that will install solar+battery systems on qualifying low-to-moderate-income households, *for free*. Yes: free. If you know someone eligible, tell them to apply!

My AYSO soccer team is full of bad-ass young ladies brimming with confidence. But there’s one girl on the team whose body language can best be characterized as “nervous.” My coaching goal is to build up her confidence. I think we unlocked something today and she was all smiles afterwards!

I struggle with loglines. And based on the #Scriptsky #Screenwriting #WritingCommunity posts I’ve seen, so do lots of other people. Loglines are hard! But if you’re trying to get people interested in your script/book, it helps to have a great one. So here’s a 🧵 on some LOGLINE DOs and DON’Ts. 🧵1

Ha! We almost went with that but thought too many others use it. We went with something different and chose Joe Tex! youtu.be/9itOm7Usi2A?...

The news had me down a bit, but then I heard “They Love Each Other,” and I got to thinking about how many Dead Heads must’ve picked it for their first dance at their wedding. Warmed my heart and got me thinking about great first dance songs. What was yours? youtu.be/5al45oVHpUI?...

Based on my 8 year old’s art, I’d say there’s a greater than 0% chance she’s dabbled in psychedelics.

I realize now that my wife forgetting our anniversary, my show getting canceled just before we started production, my dad never calling me on my birthday, was all just preparation for the disappointment I felt today when I bit into a HUGE chocolate chip cookie… only to realize it was oatmeal raisin.

I realize now that my wife forgetting our anniversary, my show getting canceled just before we started production, my dad never calling me on my birthday, was all just preparation for the disappointment I felt today when I bit into a HUGE chocolate chip cookie… only to realize it was oatmeal raisin.

My 1st Hollywood job was being a production assistant on Jimmy Kimmel Live 21 years ago. Never been more proud than I am tonight to tell people I used to get this man’s kids Poquito Mas.* *actually, Poquito Mas was a hike, so I got extra bags from them and then passed Baja Fresh off as Poquito Mas.

The thing that bums me out about this the most is that there are people who actually believe Democrats are just like digging up corpses to give them Medicaid, and grabbing every red-blooded American boy they can find and stapling vaginas on them.

This is a really good #scriptsky thread about surprises in your script. It mostly concerns itself with plot, but I’d encourage folks to be surprising with your characters and dialogue/jokes too. Flat characters and hacky/obvious jokes will turn readers off as much as predictable plot moves.

If you have neighbors who truly believe today is the rapture day, a fun game to play is to go over to their house and ask if you can borrow a cup of sugar, then when they go to get it, take off your clothes, leave them on their doorstep, and move to another city.